Ford announced on Tuesday that its F-Series lineup is the United States’ best-selling truck for the 46th consecutive year with more than 640,000 units moved. The renowned nameplate has apparently beaten Chevrolet and GMC when counted separately—but not together—also becoming the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. for the 41st year.
That sales volume figure takes into account the entire F-Series family. As such, it accounts for not only the versatile F-150 but also Super Duty models up to (and including) the F-550. Ford says that it will release final year-end sales figures on Thursday.
Now, 640,000 is a big number, but it’s hard to picture just how large it really is by reading it. To put it into perspective, approximately 15 million vehicles were sold in the U.S. in 2021. The preliminary 2022 sales figures for the F-Series pickup represent just over 4 percent of that, meaning that around one in every 25 vehicles was an F-Series pickup, assuming overall sales volume remains similar.
If that’s not enough convincing, let’s pivot to time. Ford’s 640,000 sales equate to one F-Series truck being sold every 49 seconds. Or, if you’re more of a distance person, imagine lining up every single truck bumper-to-bumper. That conga line would stretch further than the driving distance from Los Angeles to Detroit at around 2,400 miles long.
To be clear, 2022 wasn’t the best year ever for Ford’s pickups thanks to industry-wide supply chain issues. In 2021, Ford delivered more than 726,000 trucks, and in 2018, that number was even higher at 909,330. Ford delivered its record number of trucks in 2004 with more than 930,000 sold.
This year will also mark the 75th anniversary of the F-Series truck, which first launched in 1948. Together, this means that the F-Series has spent nearly two-thirds of its life as the top-selling pickup truck in the U.S., and more than half as America’s best-selling vehicle overall.
And in case you were wondering, the 2023 Ford Super Duty is off to a great start ahead of its first deliveries. Ford says that its all-new truck has amassed more than 150,000 orders, and a large portion of those was placed during the first week when Ford received more than 10,000 orders per day for the long-awaited redesign. Initial 2023 Super Duty production is due to begin early this year and continue into the spring for King Ranch, Platinum, and Limited trims.
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